Pocketknife

ABSTRACT

A pocketknife having a handle or a haft and a knife blade which can be folded and unfolded from the handle. The handle is formed out of sheet material which is bent to receive the knife blade between two sides when the blade is folded. A portion of the sheet material forms a spring which engages the knife blade to hold the blade in a fully unfolded or folded position as desired.

United States Patent Gerling Oct. 24, 1972 [54] POCKETKNIFE l,l79,l ll4/1916 Knowlton ..30/155 [72] Inventor: Ems Joachim ceding, Brosshausen1,280,462 10/1918 7 l-lemmlng ..30/ 164 X ,.Stra55e 3650solingen-ohligs, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Germany 821,478 10/1959Great Britain ..30/l55 [22] Filed: Jan. 12, 1971 y 7 PrimaryExaminer-Robert C. Riordon [2]] Appl' 105,863 Assistant Examiner-J. C.Peters Attorney-Allison C. Collar [30] Foreign Application Priority DataOct. 9, 1970 Germany ..P 20 51 431.2 [57] ABS RMCT A pocketknife havinga handle or a haft and a knife 52 us. Cl ..'....30/155 blade which canbe folded n unfolded from the [51] Int. Cl. ..B26b 1/02 die; The handleis formed out of Sheet material which [58] Field of Search "30/155, 161,164 156, 157 is bent to receive the knife blade between two sides whenthe blade is folded. A portion of the sheet material forms a springwhich engages the knife blade [56] References Cited to hold the blade ina fully unfolded or folded position UNITED STATES PATENTS V as desired.75,955 3/1868 Mosley .Q ..30/155 5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDOBI24 I972 SHEEI 1 BF 2 Inventor- ERNST JOACHIM GERLING AttorneyPATENTEDOm24 1912 3.699.654

SHEET 2 or 2 lnren far- ERNST JOACHIM GEPLLING MQQ gf/1 Attorney 1POCKETKNIFE This invention relates to a pocketknife comprising a handleor haft and a knife blade which can be folded into and unfolded out ofthe handle or haft.

According to the invention there is provided -a pocketknife comprising ahandle or haft, and a knife blade which can be folded into, and unfoldedout of the handle or haft. The, handle or haft is formed out of sheetmaterial which has been bent to receive the knife blade between its twosides when the blade is folded. A

pending upon the number and arrangement of the knife portion of thesheet material forms a spring which is enwill become apparent from thefollowing detailed.

description considered in connection with accompanying drawings whichdisclose the embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood,however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustrationonly and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similarelements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 shows the handle of the pocketknife inaccordance with theinvention before bending, with the two sides of the handle lying inapproximately a single plane;

FIG. 2 shows the pocketknife with the handle of FIG. 1 cut away;

FIG. 3 is a cross section through the pocketknife of FIG. 2 with thehoop positioned over the blade;

FIG. 4is aside view of the pocketknife of FIGS. 1 to 3 with the knifeblade open;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a modified pocketknife in accordance with theinvention before the sheet material has been bent;

FIG. 6 shows the pocketknife in accordance with the invention withportions of the sides of the handle pressed inwards, the handle beingillustrated in cutaway form; and,

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a modified pocketknife in accordance with theinvention with curved slits in its open and closed conditions.

Referring to FIGS. 1-6, the pocketknife has a'boxshaped handle or haftl, which is produced by bending sheet material and carriers one or moreknife blades 2. Slits 3 are provided in the region of the back portionor fold of the handle, which is almost semicircular in shape, the slitsbeing on opposite sides of the handle. These slits may extend in astraight line, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings theyform at least one spring 4 which secures the respective knife blade 2 inits closed position and, if necessary, also in its open position.

Box-shaped handle 1 may consist of any desired flexible or resilientmaterial, for example strip steel. One or more rivets 8 which hold thesides of the handle blades. Springs 4 may also, for example, extendalong curved lines as can be seen from FIGS. 7 and 8. This isparticularly effective in securing knife blade 2 in its open and closedpositions, since spring 4 becomes progressively stiffer from its freeend to its fixed end as the distance between the slit and the foldincreases. The straight slits in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4-6 are uniformlyspaced from the fold and could also be slanted to obtain a similarprogressive increase in the distance. In

FIGS. 7 and 8, the number 8 designates rivets and the numbers-'9 andl0'designate holes. It is also possible, for exarnple,.for'two springs 4to be provided side by side. The springs may be wider than the knifeblade.

,Slits 3 may either each extend from a position intermediate the handleends to one end of the handle, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 6, or, ascan be seen in FIGS. 4, 7 and 8,.may form an angle at the end or beclosed upon themselves. Each have their ends intermediate the handleends, so that a reliable and particularly resistantlocation of the knifeblade, which bears with its heel 5 against the handle, is obtained whenthe knife is open. If the spring 4 is constructed to be wider than theblade, the side of handle 1 may advantageously be pressed inwards in thevicinity of hole 9 in order to provide the blade with a lateral guide.In this and similar cases, a covering 6 of any desired material may beprovided. Covering 6 also helps to improve the appearance.

It is also possible to provide, in the region of the point of the blade,a hoop 7 which forms an additional safeguard against unintentionalopening of the knife blade andcan be used for carrying the knife.

While only afewembodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may bemade thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What isclaimed is:

l. A-pocketknife, comprising:

a planar sheet of material, folded about its longitudinalaxis so as toform a U-shaped handle having two parallel sides, and including at leasttwo iongitudinal slits, each disposed in one of the sides of said handleadjacent the folded portion of said sheet of material so as to form aU-shaped, cantilever spring integrally formed with said sheet ofmaterial and said handle; and knife blade, pivotably secured in saidhandle between said sides thereof so that the blunt end of said knifeblade engages said cantilever spring when said knife blade is pivotedoutwardly from or inwardly into said handle.

2. The pocketknife as recited in claim 1, wherein said slits provided insaid sheet of material are disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis ofsaid handle and adjacent said folded portion thereof, and extend from apredetermined point inbetween the ends of said handle linearly to oneend of said handle, thereby forming a U- shaped cantilever spring whichextends from one end of said handle adjacent the blunt end of said knifeblade so that the end of said knife blade is received in the U- shapedchannel of said spring when said knife blade is pivoted outwardly fromor inwardly into said handle.

3. The pocketknife as recited in claim 2, wherein said handle furthercomprises at least two additional slits disposed in said handle parallelto the folded portion thereof and the longitudinal axis of said handle,extending from a predetermined point between the ends of said handle tothe other end of said handle, so as to form at least one additionalU-shaped cantilever spring 4 between two predetermined points locatedbetween the ends of said handle, said slits being joined at one endabove the pivotably secured blunt end of said knife blade by anadditional slit provided in said sheet of material disposedperpendicular to said longitudinal slits, "so as to form a singleU-shaped slit in said sheet of material and a U-shaped cantilever springdisposed between the ends of said handle when said sheet of material isfolded.

5. The pocketknife as recited in claim 2, wherein said Y slits arecurved inwardly towards the center of the sides of said handle, andextend between two predetermined points located between the endsthereof, said sheet of material further comprising an additional slitprovided therein disposed perpendicular to the ends of said longitudinalslits disposed adjacent the blunt end of said knife blade and joiningthe ends thereof so as to form a U-shaped slit in said sheet of materialand a triangularshaped cantilever spring between the ends of saidhandle.

1. A pocketknife, comprising: a planar sheet of material, folded aboutits longitudinal axis so as to form a U-shaped handle having twoparallel sides, and including at least two longitudinal slits, eachdisposed in one of the sides of said handle adjacent the folded portionof said sheet of material so as to form a U-shaped, cantilever springintegrally formed with said sheet of material and said handle; and aknife blade, pivotably secured in said handle between said sides thereofso that the blunt end of said knife blade engages said cantilever springwhen said knife blade is pivoted outwardly from or inwardly into saidhandle.
 2. The pocketknife as recited in claim 1, wherein said slitsprovided in said sheet of material are disposed parallel to thelongitudinal axis of said handle and adjacent said folded portionthereof, and extend from a predetermined point inbetween the ends ofsaid handle linearly to one end of said handle, thereby forming aU-shaped cantilever spring which extends from one end of said handleadjacent the blunt end of said knife blade so that the end of said knifeblade is received in the U-shaped channel of said spring when said knifeblade is pivoted outwardly from or inwardly into said handle.
 3. Thepocketknife as recited in claim 2, wherein said handle further comprisesat least two additional slits disposed in said handle parallel to thefolded portion thereof and the longitudinal axis of said handle,extending from a predetermined point between the ends of said handle tothe other end of said handle, so as to form at least one additionalU-shaped cantilever spring integrally formed with said handle andextending from the other end thereof, and further comprising anadditional knife blade, pivotably secured in said handle at the otherend thereof so that the blunt end of said knife blade engages theU-shaped channel of said additional cantilever spring when said knifeblade is pivoted outwardly from or inwardly into said handle.
 4. Thepocketknife as recited in claim 2, wherein said slits are disposedparallel to the longitudinal axis of said handle adjacent the foldedportion thereof and extend between two predetermined points locatedbetween the ends of said handle, said slits being joined at one endabove the pivotably secured blunt end of said knife blade by anadditional slit provided in said sheet of material disposedperpendicular to said longitudinal slits, so as to form a singleU-shaped slit in said sheet of material and a U-shaped cantilever springdisposed between the ends of said handle when said sheet of material isfolded.
 5. The pocketknife as recited in claim 2, wherein said slits arecurved inwardly towards the center of the sides of said handle, andextend between two predetermined points located between the endsthereof, said sheet of material further comprising an additional slitprovided therein disposed perpendicular to the ends of said longitudinalslits disposed adjacent the blunt end of said knife blade and joiningthe ends thereof so as to form a U-shaped slit in said sheet of materialand a triangular-shaped cantilever spring between the ends of saidhandle.